A Balancing Act Gone Wrong
by Honestly tell me a lie
Summary: Yumi discovers the man who raised her isn't really her father, but her step father. When Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama take a trip to Japan to care for their sick realitive, Yumi is sent to live with her father. Can she balance her new life and XANA?
1. Dad?

I don't own Code lyoko, I admit it, happy? Good :) Do I even have to put that? I don't know, whatever, I did, and now I'm rambling, D. JUST READ TE STORY o.o.

Chapter one: Dad?

PoV: Yumi :P

Starts here :o :

I guess I will start my story from the beginning. My name is Yumi Ishiyama, I am a normal- or should I say, not out of the ordinary, by to much of a stretch- 14 year old girl. I attend, and have attended Kadic Middle school, for grades 6-9, since I moved her from Japan 2 years ago. I am not a border there, but live a few blocks away, with my family. My _real _family. Now, here is where it gets, complicated, if I may.

My friends and I, well you see, we aren't _exactly_ your average students. The five of us, Ulrich, Odd, Jerimie, Aelita and myself, have a tendency to skip school to fight a demonic super computer known as XANA. Aelita, she was once trapped in this computer, in a place called Lyoko, but Jerimie managed to make a program to bring her here to earth, with us. Of course, XANA didn't quit when she arrived, he only tried harder to ruin our lives, homes, world. I guess this is where the real story begins, on a grey skied October day in France.

I woke up to my alarm clock beeping, and my mother yelling rather loudly for me to get up and get some breakfast, or I would be late for school. 'Oh bummer, late for lectures and _Sissi_, how could I miss out?' As I yawned I slowly got dressed and made my way down the stairs, only to be greeted with the surprise of my life.

"Yumi, darling, your father and I need to have a word with you," she was fidgeting with the bread before putting it gently into the new toaster purchased a few days before. I just sighed and nodded my head, awaiting a reprimanding for my unusual, untimely arrivals during the later hours of the morning after tiring XANA attacks. Of course, they didn't know the reason for this, they couldn't. Not that they would believe me, would you not be surprised if your daughter came home one day and told you she was risking her life in a video-game like world to save all of human kind? That's what I thought.

"Yumi, do you remember your father?" My mother seemed pretty straight forward, leaving me feeling very confused and awkward, as I looked over to the man I presumed to be my father, the husky man sitting across the table from me. He was looking at me expecting and answer, but obviously not receiving one.

"What, what do you mean? Dad?" I kept my eyes on his, and he just shook his head. I was shocked, the man I had been raised by, who I had always _thought _to be my father, wasn't? How was this possible? I managed to stutter a few random words, before looking at my mother again, and whispering a quiet "M-mom?"

x insert break here x

Well, as it turned out, my mother was divorced after I was born, and after an older sister I never _knew _of was born. She remarried the man I think of as my father soon after, and had my younger brother, Hiroki. My, how should I put this, genetic contributor? No, doesn't sound right, I'm not sure how to refer to him to this day; but that will be explained later on. For now, however, I will stick to the story.

x insert break here x

"Honey, my sister is sick, and she needs your, well, step father in Japan as well as I. We are going to bring Hiroki with us, we aren't sure if he could adjust to moving in with your father. Everything is arranged, he moved back into town a few weeks ago, and is only a few blocks away." 'Alright', I thought, 'so now I have to move in with a man I don't know and my supposed sister? This was looking just grand.'

"But mom, do I have to call him _dad?_" I know, it was a stupid question, but it had been nagging me ever since we started this conversation. He was my father, but not my dad, or I didn't see him as one. She only informed me that was his decision, and pushed me out the door to school. "Well this is going to be an adventure."

x insert break here x

"Yuuumi, Yumi! Back to earth Yumi! Ulrich wants to tell you he loves you!" Ok, I admit, that got me out of my stare into space, but noticing the blush on Ulrich's face and the fact he was starting a fist fight with Odd, I probably wasn't supposed to hear that. After a weak attempt at trying to control the redness appearing on my face, I continued to move the cafeteria's "food" around with my fork. Could it even be considered food? I for one am not sure, but Odd seems to think so. After accepting a plea from Odd for his life, everyone returned to their seats, only to stare at me. I looked up from my food, and gave them all a _very_ interesting look, suggesting the simple phrase "What?"

"You really should eat something, it's not like you to… not eat." Ulrich had never been a rocket scientist, I admit to that. At least he cared, he was nice, too. He was handsome, and athletic. Plus his eyes and hair are this delicious shade of brown- Am I rambling? Sorry.

"I just have a lot to think about. Odd, you can have it if you want, I never liked this junk." I pushed my tray over to the garbage disposal of the gang, and watched him push it back. "Are you not hungry?" I blinked, confused, was Odd _refusing _food? He must be sick, very sick.

"No, I'm hungry, but you need to eat, and I for one am not going to let you leave without eating," he sounded serious, for once. I mumbled a few swears and sat back down, taking a bite of my food. The idiot who made me do it in the first place clapped, drawing the attention of the entire building. Attempting to save himself from embarrassment, he quickly made up a story.

"Oh, um…Ulrich finally asked Yumi out!" With that, three pairs of eyes shot directly toward him, Ulrich and mine included, and screamed "What!" in unison. Looking behind me, I could see a dumbfounded Sissi staring at us with her mouth wide open. She was approaching me with anger building up inside, I could tell. Standing up so my back was against the table, I let my eyes open wide as she threw a punch. Ducking, I tried to convince her it was all a joke, a lame one at that, but she just wouldn't stop.

"Please –duck- Sissi! –duck- It –duck- was –duck- just –duck- a" it was to late, she had thrown another punch and hit me right on target, I grabbed my face in my hands and let out a cry of pain. Unfortunately for me, Ulrich rushed over to help me, only to get Sissi more riled up. She planted one last kick in my side and left, leaving me curled up on the floor trying hard not to cry. A calming voice was talking to me, but I didn't manage to understand a word he was saying except "Infirmary" and "I'll come with you," as he helped me to my feet.

x insert break here x

Somehow, limping and still holding my bruised face in my hands, I made my way to the infirmary in one piece, or the same pieces I was already in. Of course, Ulrich stayed with me the entire time, which lightened up the situation. Except the fact that he was looking at me with a swollen eye that was slowly turning into one large bruise as the nurse decided to check for any broken ribs by lifting up my shirt. That was horrific, for that split second where the guy I swear I'm in love with saw me in only my bra before he turned around, bright red. Things were pretty much awkward after that.

"Ugh! Do you know how much concealer it's going to take to cover this thing up?" I whined as I looked in the mirror at my black and blue eye. I sighed and put the ice pack back against my face, lying back down on the bed. The nurse had decided to let me skip a few classes so the swelling in my eye and abdomen would go down, and since things got pretty boring in the infirmary, that Ulrich could stay and keep my company. He was laughing at my complaints about makeup and having to wear a longer shirt on Monday, to cover up the shoe shaped mark on my side.

"You do know you are really cute when you complain," he was smiling at me, obviously glad to get out of classes, and happier to spend the time with me. I blushed and looked up at the ceiling. 'You do know you're always cute?' that was the response I meant to say, but when I opened my mouth to say it, the words just wouldn't leave my throat. So instead, I looked over at him and beckoned him to come closer, which he obeyed.

Quickly removing my ice pack, I leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Did you know you're cute when you are completely at my mercy as I tickle you senseless?" He looked at me, baffled, until I launched a tickle attack on him, before he could realize what was happening. To bad he isn't as ticklish as I expected; I only had him rolling breathless on the ground for a few seconds, before he retaliated, making sure not to hurt me. I guess we battled for a while over who was the tickle-y and the tickle-r, but eventually we just kind of, stopped.

It took us a while to figure out we were lying in the same bed, holding hands, and giggling. As soon as we did, Ulrich stood up quickly and I watched as his face flushed a light red. The nurse happened to walk in a moment later, to coincidental for my liking, and told the two of us we should be getting back to class. I sighed and immediately went to apply layer after layer of makeup on my face to hide the dark bruise around my eye. 'Just think, today's only half way over,' I told myself, and made my way through the crowded hallways.

x insert stop here x

And now I get to talk, yay!

Okay, so it's not the greatest story, I know ..hopefully it'll get better as it goes along, I just wanted to write something, ya know? If I don't update for a while, don't kill me, x.x. I think I'll set a day each week I should update by, so if today is Tuesday, and next Tuesday is my birthday, I'll set it for Wednesdays, okay? Okay.

So, review away! Tell me what you think should happen, I know Yumi should have fought back, but she as having a bad day, and she was tired, I should probably write that in…oh well. I'm still new at this whole rating/genre thing, so hopefully I got it right, xP.

-Normal is so over-rated


	2. Old Geezer Road

**Whee! Chapter two, o.o. Felt like writing, again. Plus, it's Wednesday, update day, even though I posted the story yesterday…o.o. SO, read and review, please. Comments are appreciated, I know it's kinda short, but my friend liked it so I left it as it was. And now on with the story…**

Chapter two: Old Geezer Road

PoV: Yumi, again, probably will change it, but it's so easy to write through her view right now –blinks- o.o.

I lingered in the class room of my last period subject before wandering into the empty hall ways. The gang was still gathered on our bench, Odd laughing and Ulrich mumbling swears under his breath, Aelita smiling innocently as Jerimie explained the world to her, bit by bit. I wanted to smile, but something held me back. Walking straight past them, Ulrich quickly stood up, offering me a walk home.

"I'm not going home," was my response, leaving him puzzled, but still following me. As soon as he caught up, I sped up the pace at which I was walking at. He didn't catch the hint, and kept up with me. I quickly sighed, "Ulrich, I'll tell you later, I just need to go, okay? Go back and have fun with the gang; fill me in on anything interesting later." I'm pretty sure I couldn't sound any more monotonous at the moment, but I was less than thrilled. He slowed down and nodded to me as he turned around, obviously somewhat upset, and started back towards the school's gates.

As I walked, I glanced down at the faded ink written on my hand. "2850 Allgood Road," was written rather sloppy on my palm, since my mother had yelled it at me as I walked down the street earlier that morning. 'How ironic, I'm living on some street that has a name suggesting a bunch of lovey-dovey old geezers with an optimistic view on everything living in their nice little decorate-me-for-the-holiday's-home, when I look like I got in a fight with a bulldozer and lost.' I almost walked into the street sign while random thoughts clouded my mind, but tripped instead over the large rock two feet next to the sign. 'I'm just on a roll today!' I struggled to regain my composure as I dusted myself off, a weak attempt at removing the dirt my pants had collected. 'I'm just going to make a grand impression on my new family, aren't I?'

x insert break here x

Could I have been any closer to the truth? No, I was dead on, and since I did not have the energy to attempt the walk home, I merely wandered up to the front door. My first mistake.

x insert break here x

I knocked on the door a few times before a nauseatingly preppy girl opened it, looking me over skeptically. Her dark brown eyes scanned every inch of me; she was a few good inches taller than me, which I already hated, and her chemically straightened, highlighted to be as blond as possible without actually being blond hair tied up in a high pony tail reaching just above her shoulders.

"Sorry, we haven't gone to the grocery store this week, we don't have any food to spare," she sounded serious, and I simply laughed at her, and walked inside.

"Well hello there, my name is Yumi, and I am guessing you're the other human being in which I share some of my genetic code with." I attempted a smile but it faded as soon as she opened her mouth to speak. By the way she folded her arms over her chest, it was probably an insult, which would evolve into an extremely nasty fist fight, and I did _not _want to lose any hair.

"Maybe you should just show me where my room is. I need to get changed," what a lame excuse, I know. Hey, it was the first thing that came to mind, sorry for the inconvenience. She cleared her throat and tugged on her shirt, making sure to keep it _perfect_ on her _perfect_ figure. Not to judge people, but she definitely was not going to be on my new best friend. Clearing her throat, _again, _she turned the knob on the door to a small room on the left side of a long hallway. As she turned around to leave, she shrieked as I grabbed her hand.

"Don't do that! You could have **broken** my nail! Where are your manners?"

"Sorry, I was just going to ask your name," I gave her an "I'm sorry, but yet I'm not" look, which she didn't pick up on. Instead, she snorted and turned around while yelling "Hailey" over her shoulder. I cringed at the name, it was so…American.

x insert break here x

So it begins, at the time I had no idea what I was in for; after all I can't predict the future. I have to say, though, that I wish I had let Ulrich walk me home, so he himself could see the mess I was about to find my way into. Or at least he could have prevented me from losing the last strand of sanity I held on to that night.

x insert break here x

"**Dadddy! **_She's _here!" was the first thing I heard after I shut the room to my door to get dressed. What an unpleasant sound, Hailey yelling up the staircase in a whiney voice, which made her sound like she was complaining. Maybe she was, but who am I to say? I've known her for all of five minutes at this point, and if first impressions make a difference, I wish I'd known her for less.

"Alright hun, I'll be down in a minute," Something about his voice sounded familiar, if uses I never really forgot him before my mom and I moved out. The other 99.9 of his voice sounded angry, almost like he didn't care. Should I really expect more from the father I haven't seen since I was just old enough to start school? I guess not, after all, this is the man who raised Hailey. I slowly opened my door and snuck a quick glance around the corner to see a man coming slowly down the steep staircase.

"Dad?"

x insert end here x

**So, what did ya think? Just send a nice little review by clicking the button at the bottom of the page, and typing in some stuff…preferably nice stuff, but constructive criticism works too. Lmao, if you could see all the typos I just made before I spell checked this one little authors not thing, you would fall off your seat laughing, little red underlines are everywhere…**

**-I know, I know, I SHOULD be doing homework,**

**Normal is so over-rated.**


	3. My Life is a Catastroscope

**Whee I write too much, o.o. Read away!**

Chapter three: My Life is a Catastroscope.

PoV: Normal

'That was an, interesting conversation' Yumi's thought to herself, after finding her way back to her small room. She had just come back from talking with her father and sister, not her two favorite people in the world. She closed her eyes and sighed, 'So this is life from now on." Letting, the memories of the day flood back into her mind, she attempted to relax.

x ong flashback!11! x

"Dad?" her voice was almost a whisper; like she wanted to be heard, and yet didn't at the same time. Amazingly, the man on the staircase heard her, and smiled slightly. He was taller than Yumi by at least half a foot; but only a few inches taller then her sister. His dark brown hair was starting to grow grey, along with select hairs in his goatee (AN: what are those things called? XP). He was slightly overweight, it seemed, and he wore a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. He seemed to be anything but Japanese, probably moved to Japan at a fairly young age. He had dark brown eyes, lighter than Hailey's (and not nearly as scary), but darker than Yumi's by a few shades.

"Yumi! It's been forever, please, have a seat!" he motioned towards the large sofa in the living room by the front door. Hailey was walking over to her dad quickly, and attaching herself, rather clinging herself to their father. They both sat done next to Yumi, who scooted as far away from them as possible, resorting to sitting on the arm of the furniture.

"So, um…dad? Yeah, it's nice to, err, see you again," She was at a lack for words; she didn't know her father, was she supposed to be excited? Angry? Did it even matter? Her father seemed pleased, and that was all that counted at the moment. Forcing a smile, Yumi waited for a reply.

Hailey, being the person she was, had to get a word in. "Oh Daddy, I forgot to tell you! Today Sammy said there was going to be an extra hour of practice tonight, so your going to have to stay a little while longer, Okay?" It wasn't a question; anyone could tell it was a command. The man just nodded and smiled, 'Just nod and smile, remember that,' Yumi made a mental note, knowing it would come in handy in the near-future.

"How was your day?" the question snapped the note taking girl back to reality, and cringed. Not that she was going to say anything, since her day was pretty much a disaster, but the cheerleader interrupted her yet again.

"It was excellent Daddy! I got a 98 on my math test, the highest grade in my class!" Her tone changed dramatically as she continued, "But science was a catastroscope! Jenny spilled the chemicals all over Nick's lab, and he had to start over. You should have seen the teachers face, he was furious," Yumi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, 'Catastroscope? What the heck is that?'

After this, however, Yumi didn't get a word in. Her father and sister decided to start an all out disturbing conversation about cheerleading, and only cheerleading. Looking around the room, she noticed the numerous trophies of girls holding up pom-poms, medals and plaques scattered on the walls. "Obsessive!" was the last thing she said before she left unnoticed and unheard, escaping to the solitude of her room.

x end flashback!11! X

x insert POV change to Ulrich Stern:o x

"I don't know you guys, she was acting really weird before…" How could they be so calm? Okay, maybe I'm overreacting, is pacing overreacting? It is? Crap, I'm overreacting, aren't I?

"Relax dude, you are totally overreacting," Hah! I was right, I was overreacting. Why am I happy about overreacting? Am I rambling now? I guess it's true what they say, love does make you crazy.

"What if she's not alright? I mean, she said she wasn't going home, so where was she going? Why wouldn't she tell me? What is she's with _William,_" Odd cut me off, again. Jerimie and Aelita were just staring at him and me, moving their heads back and forth as if it was a tennis match.

"Ulrich, why don't you, gasp! _Call_ her?" He emphasized the calling part, obviously trying to mock me for being so anxious to know what was happening, which I guess I deserved. That still gave him no right to do it, though, and I shall therefore beat the living daylights out of him when we return to our dorm.

"Wow, you actually had a good idea for once, Odd." Jerimie had butted into the conversation for a moment before looking back over to Aelita and engaging in a very confusing conversation about some sort of hard drive or whatever. They scare me, seriously.

I fished my cell phone out of my pocket and scrolled through the contacts list, not having to go very far, seeing as her number was first. I clicked the green call button and waited for a ring. Waiting impatiently, her voice mail came up, and I sighed.

"Odd, I got her voice mail, she's not picking up." I had set the phone down on Jerimie's computer desk and looked at my roommate. He gave me a "You're kidding me, right?" look before telling me to leave a message.

"Oh, right." I picked up the phone, not sure how much of the conversation had been recorded on her mobile already. "Uh, hi Yumi, it's me. Me being Ulrich, of course. I was just wondering if you were okay, you seemed a bit…weird when you left school today," I turned around to see Odd making kissy faces in the background and the couple on the bed giggling like mad. Feeling my face flush, I quickly added a "Callmebackbye" before setting the phone down again.

"Odd, you are a dead man!" I practically screamed at him, and his eyes got large before he broke out into a fit of laughter, occasionally squeaking out a "You know you want to kiss her," or "You know you love her". Aelita was standing up and walking to my cell phone during the whole predicament, glancing at the screen and handing it to me.

"You forgot to hang up, Ulrich," She had a huge smile on her face as my face went beyond scarlet. I grabbed the phone quickly from her hands and moved to the corner of the room.

"Lets just pretend you didn't hear any of that, okay? Bye!" I managed to hang up this time, mortified.

x insert POV change to Yumi Ishiyama:o x

I guess someone had called me during my oh so interesting conversation with my family; because I had a voicemail on my phone. A rather large message, at that. 'Probably from mom making sure everything's ok,' I sighed and held the phone to my ear.

"voice mail, she's not picking up." I giggled, it was Ulrich, this could be good.

"Oh, right," He paused, I heard a sound on the other line, he had probably set the phone down and was picking it up. ""Uh, hi Yumi, it's me. Me being Ulrich, of course. I was just wondering if you were okay, you seemed a bit…weird when you left school today," He paused again, and I heard an unidentifiable sound in the background this time. Of course, my first suspicion was Odd, and I was correct.

"Odd, you are a dead man!" I would have collapsed laughing at the comment if I weren't sitting down on my bed already. I could hear Odd mumbling things, but couldn't make out anything he was saying. Aelita and Jerimie were obviously in the room, and laughing also. Aelita, being the attentive, noticed the message was still being recorded, and pointed it out to Ulrich, who picked the phone back up.

"Lets just pretend you didn't hear any of that, okay? Bye!" Those were the last words in the voicemail, and soon the annoying lady saying "If you wish to save this message…" came up, and I quickly saved the conversation before shutting off my phone. 'I'll call you back, later. I have the feeling you're to embarrassed to talk right now anyways," I smiled to myself. "I know him to well."

Feeling the need to unwind and relax, I made my way to the bath room. 'A long, hot shower, that's what I need.' As I opened the door and turned on the light, I saw what a mess the bathroom was. "Hailey, what did you do in here," I yelled, knowing she was probably half was across the house, "And why is there a bathing cap in the tub? Aren't you supposed to _wash _your hair when you take a shower?"

"If I wash my hair it goes curly again, and I _don't _want to have to straighten it again, okay? Good, now shut up so I can listen to my music," She turned her music up to full blast; and I could hear every word from behind the locked bathroom door. I picked up her bathing cap between my thumb and index finger and dropped it carelessly into the garbage.

"Oops?" I smiled to myself, 'Revenge is sweet.' I turned the water on and waited for it to heat up before undressing and climbing carefully into the shower. 'My life is a catastroscope, that's for sure.'

x insert end here x

AN stuffs:

**Ok, I know catastroscope isn't a word; my dad said it once, since my grandma used to say it, and I couldn't help it, I had to use it. XANA, XANA, XANA, what to do with XANA…how's next chapter sound? I'll work it in, xP. **

**Sorry my chapters are kind of short; my friend seems to like them the way they are, so I post 'em. Plus, I get stuck a lot, go figure, x.x.**

**So, read and review away! I may or may not have a new chapter by Wednesday, seeing as my friends want to throw me a birthday party tomorrow, which is really just a set up to make Jimmy and me go bowling together, hardy har har, o.O. And yeah, Tuesday's my birthday so I'd have to write tonight and on Monday, and I have the practice for the play everyday after school until Thursday, sooo…**


	4. Ten Minutes Into the Future

Chapter four: Ten minutes in the future.

PoV: Take a guess?

"Going to the library, gotta work on a project, k? Okay bye!" I didn't wait for an answer; why bother when you knew it would be a no? I rushed out the door and skidded to a stop in the middle of the street as I headed for the factory. 'Why today? Of _all_ days, why today?' I sighed and rounded the corner to the bridge, trying to prepare myself for the fight to come.

I guess it was rather good timing; when I called Ulrich back that is. We had just said hello before Jerimie almost busted the door down trying to get it open, obviously in panic mode. As usual, XANA had some twisted plan of trapping us in school, but everyone (with the exception of Odd, who had found himself glued to the cafeteria's seats) had managed to get out safely. Everyone was already at the factory, Ulrich and Aelita on lyoko as I, err, "speak".

After pressing the elevator button a couple of times to many, its doors opened slowly. I walked into the contraption, waiting for the doors to close just as slowly as they had opened. "CLOSE, DAMNIT!" I was growing, very impatient, screaming loud enough for any person in a block of the factory to hear. I grinned as the doors began to close in, saying a polite thank you and tapping my foot to the imaginary elevator music playing.

x insert break and sudden random POV change here x

"Ulrich! Hold on a little longer, you've only got 10 life points," after I said this, I paused as an aggravated voice rang through the building, "And Yumi's on her way! Don't worry, she's in the elevator, I should fix that thing one of these days..."

x insert ANOTHER break and POV change to Yumi Ishiyama,. x

As the doors open I made my way into my scanner, knowing Jerimie knew exactly where I was. The doors closed behind me, indicating the beginning of my journey to lyoko. The last thing I heard was Jerimie's familiar voice saying "Virtualization!" before being pixilated into the world that was like a second, or third, home to me.

As I landed, I flicked my fan open and prepared to block any incoming shots. A yellow blur passed in front of me, almost knocking me over and blocking a laser in the process.

"Ya know, I _can _fend for myself, right?" I asked, with a slight grin on my face, knowing he was the one who needed the help right now. Throwing a fan with very little effort, I hit one of the last blocks as the yellow blur toyed around with the megatank to my left. The last of the enemy turned slowly to face me, powering up its laser as it moved. I smiled to myself, knowing I could take it down any day, as it fired, I effortlessly moved a step to the left. As the megatank exploded, I tossed my fan towards the monster and watched as it wobbled unsteadily on its "claws" (AN: what to call then…) before detonating before my eyes. The infamous yellow blur slowed down to a stop beside me and waited for the pink haired princess to appear.

"Aelita? Where are you!" The lyokian was nowhere to be seen. Jerimie hadn't warned us she was in the tower, and if anything had happened to his poor Aelita, I'm sure we would have heard him scream something of unrepeatable nature over the headset. Looking around frantically, I didn't notice the figure sneaking up behind me.

"Ae" I'll let you sue your imagination on how loud I screamed as I turned around to a face inches away from mine, who managed to mutter a loud "boo!" seconds before I could dig their name from my brain. As I slowly came back to reality, I heard Jerimie and Aelita laughing hysterically, and could see Ulrich smirking, leaning on a nearby tree. Glaring, I screamed rather loudly at them that it was in fact _not _funny, shaking my finger to add dramatic effect.

"Common, can't you take a joke?" Ulrich was shaking his finger mockingly at me, batting his eyelashes the best he could. I grabbed Aelita's hand and started dragging her towards the tower, ignoring the blank stare I was receiving Mr. Ithinkitisfuntoscareyumi.

"No, I can't take a joke, now if you'll excuse me, we have a tower to deactivate here," I motioned to the pillar in front of us, the glowing red mist drifting around it effortlessly. Aelita started sprinting ahead, being dissolved into the tower at contact. Moments later, we were back on earth, waiting for Jerimie to get into the elevator.

"Can we **please** go back in time?" Whining may not have been my best plan, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Sure, going back would increase the strength of XANA, ultimately endangering the entire world, but I needed a redo! "Just once Jerimie, do it for me," I must admit, I am much better at batting my eyelashes than Ulrich will _ever _be, but it seemed to have no effect on Jerimie.

"Yumi, you know we can't do that,"

"Although I could really use a retake of that science quiz…" Ulrich interrupted Jerimie, and I smiled.

"SEE! He wants to go back too, plllllease?" He just shook his head and got up from his chair, heading towards the elevator. Sighing, I joined reluctantly before the doors closed.

x insert break here x

As quietly as possible, I turned the door knob on the front door. After moving a quarter of the way, it stopped. "Shit!" I mumbled under my breath, not knowing where my new family kept the spare key. Biting my lip, I looked at my watch (let's pretend she has one, shall we?), it was approaching midnight. Our mission had taken much longer than I expected, with all the fooling around on Lyoko. Having to return to school to get Odd unglued from the lunch bench was no help either, taking more time than the mission in it's self.

Pacing back and fourth on the steps caused the flood light above the door to switch on. As unexpected as this was, it didn't bother me until I heard a bed creak and feet dragging heavily across a wooden floor. My eyes widened, as I panicked, beginning to hyperventilate on the door step. As the footsteps got louder I forced myself to remain calm. 'Common Yumi, there's no reason to panic, they'll understand. Yeah, right…' The door opened a bit to reveal a yawning Hailey standing with knees bent, putting most of her weight on the door itself. She seemed to smirk when she noticed it was me at the door, opening it wider and saying a mischievous "Come in, why don't you?"

I gulped and took a step forward, preparing myself to dash to my new room. A hand clasped my shoulder and foiled my plan, leaving me with one option; confrontation.

"Hehe, hey Hailey, what's, uh, new?" I smiled awkwardly and watched her foot tap on the wooden floor. Obviously refusing to answer, I sidestepped and watched her turn to watch me like a hawk. "You know, you look awfully tired, I think we should both get some sleep. Night!" Walking a bit faster than normal, I turned the corner before sprinting to my room. Skidding as I maneuvered through the door, I used my foot to close the door. I slowly made my way over to my bed, before collapsing and slowly falling into a deep sleep.

x insert break here x

Before I knew it I heard my alarm clock go off, I had set it a few minutes earlier than usual to give me extra time to figure out where I had put my cloths when I had unpacked them I night before. 'This is going to take some getting used to,' I couldn't have been more right. Once I finished getting dressed, I walked into the kitchen. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I chocked on my orange juice.

"Ten minutes till 7?" Putting my class down on the counter, I rocketed out the door. "I could have sworn I set my alarm early this morning! I'm such a nitwit!" Smacking my forehead while running towards school, I noticed the gang was yet to be at out trademark bench. 'Am I really that late?' Once again I glanced at my watch. "What? 6:52? This is really screwed up…"

As I looked around, I noticed only a few scattered students were in the courtyard. Sitting down on the bench, I waited as patiently as possible for the minutes to tick by. Sure enough, after 3 minutes passed, Ulrich and Odd emerged from the dorm buildings and strolled slowly towards our meeting spot.

"Whoa, you're here early," Odd was pointing out the obvious again. I glared at him, before smiling at Ulrich. He gave me a friendly wave and sat down next to me, looking over at me after getting comfy.

"So, why _are _you here anyway?" Jerimie and Aelita were heading our way, also waving before taking their seats. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I woke up today and I was ten minutes into the future," I gained stares from the whole group, before the morning bell broke the awkward silence. I stood off, brushing my jeans off before making my way towards class. Why must the long days continue?

**AN stuffs:**

**Okay, like I have said before, not very interested in writing right now. Yes, I know, it's a short chapter, a weird, short chapter. Out of ideas, sometimes out of time. I've become more interested in reading and drawing again, so it may be a –long- update. Sorry for how long this was, actually, I'm just lazy, (. Review if you'd like, I know I don't review a lot. I should probably start before people get angry with me, xP.**

**Um, yeah. IM me if you want, PM if you want, review if you want, email if you want…blahblahblah…**

**Loveliness,**

**Aimee.**


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